Crime Surges in Uttara as Beat Policing Breaks Down

Masud Parvez, from Uttara

The beat policing programme once helped keep law and order in Uttara, but it has now almost stopped working. Police presence and supervision have dropped at night. As a result, theft, snatching, teen gang trouble and drug dealing are rising at an alarming rate in many sectors and neighbourhoods. Ordinary residents feel deep fear and insecurity.

Local sources and a visit to the area show that beat policing began in the Uttara East, Uttara West, Uttara, Turag, Uttarkhan and Dakshinkhan police station areas. The aim was to bring police service to people’s doorsteps and to control crime. The system worked for some time. Today it exists mostly in name.

Under the rules, each beat must have an SI or ASI as its beat officer, and each ward must have a beat office. The officer’s name and mobile number must be posted on walls. The police must also hold a monthly courtyard meeting with residents. Now all of this exists only on paper. Most beat offices stay locked, or no one is on duty there. With fewer evening patrols and less visible police, criminal gangs are growing bolder.

Residents of different sectors in Uttara say that mobile phone and gold snatching in broad daylight has increased in the lanes of their neighbourhoods. House thefts have also risen. Thieves have stolen electric wires from mosques, madrasas, schools and colleges. After sunset, drug users gather in the empty lanes.

Several areas become almost unprotected after 8 pm. These include the Balur Math, Primary School Road and Kach Kura Bazar areas in Uttarkhan, and Azampur Kancha Bazar in Dakshinkhan. They also include Nalbhog, Dalipara, Kamarpara and Diabari in Turag.

Residents of sectors 3, 4, 6, 7, 10 and 12 in Uttara say the beat police number used to be written at the mouth of every lane. They say the beat officer reached the spot fast whenever something bad happened. “Now we see no activity from the beat police at all,” they said.

Some residents of Nalbhog and Dalipara in Turag spoke on condition of anonymity. They said there are not enough night patrols in these areas, including Diabari, so they feel unsafe. Representatives of various welfare associations in Uttara said criminals fear the police less now because beat policing has become weak. They warned that law and order in the whole area will get worse if the programme does not revive soon.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the Uttara Division Mr. Md. Rezaul Karim responded to the complaints. He said police will talk with the officers of each station and take quick steps to speed up beat policing. He said they are working to hold regular beat policing meetings, run night patrols and strengthen community policing.

Residents demand more than station based action to bring peace back to every lane and sector in Uttara. They want police to supervise beat policing strictly and make it work.